Hey 👋🏽,

They closed down the restaurant for us.

Not really but that’s how I’ll remember it. There are usually only a few other tables of guests but covid is keeping everyone away.

We were greeted by the only two other people there: chef and waiter. The chef told us about taking time off for the first time in 30+ years.

I get up at 5 and walk 3-6 miles. Then I bike 20, maybe 25. Very relaxing ashually.

He said, eyes sparkling, his French accent singing in the end.

Take your pick!

said the waiter as he guided us outside. He’s worked 7 days a week alongside the chef for 10 years but didn’t mention the time off.

We sat at a corner table in the courtyard where lights and ivy climbed the walls drawing our eyes up toward the stars and back down to each other. Oh those summer nights.

When the molten chocolate cake appeared, the waiter shared a weird and wonderful rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Happy Birthday and we tried to make him feel like he was at Carnegie Hall or based on how long he held that last note maybe he already felt it.

I don’t believe in perfect but it was. All we have is moments.

Here are a few things I enjoyed this week:

🧠 how to understand things Nabeel Qu, 14m

When in doubt, go closer.

❤️ ghosts, must ride mules, the children, go outside start again today no. 34, 1m

Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. - Maya Angelou

Last week’s (delayed) newsletter.

🚶🏽‍♀️followup Josh Spector, 5m

Reenergized from a few days off, I’ve spent more time reaching out to old coworkers and my extended network over the last week to learn, explore and get out of my echo chamber. This article is helping me level up my followup.

I see you, I love you, I’ll be back on a bike (from my living room) in the next 1-2 weeks…